g6 Ancient Monuments of Gorebridge District. [Sess. 



opened up in Borthwick parish. A group were discovered at 

 a place called Sheal Loch on the farm of Torcraik, a little to 

 the east of the Carlisle road, and about eleven miles from 

 Edinburgh. One of these cairns was very large. About the 

 beginning of the nineteenth century, when drainage began to 

 be in vogue, a vast quantity of stones were taken from this 

 cairn to form stone drains. While this was going forward in 

 1814, a stone coffin or cist was found, 2 J feet long by 1\ feet 

 broad. It was formed of four stones that had been set on 

 end, with a square stone on the top. An interesting urn was 

 found in this cist, which you may inspect in case E. A., No. 12, 

 in the Antiquarian Museum. Both cist and urn were filled 

 with soft clay. Six other stone coffins have been found here, 

 and one, discovered by Dr Jamieson in 1815, held an urn of 

 the food-vessel type, and has also been deposited in the 

 Antiquarian Museum. In the same place of custody are two 

 urns taken from Blacklaw Knoll, Saughland farm, and two of 

 the drinking-cup type found on Cakemuir in 1857. A bronze 

 axe is also there, discovered at Mount-Skip in 1846. 



Other Celtic remains found in our district are those curious 

 constructions known as earth-houses or weems. These are 

 remarkable relics of primitive domestic architecture. These 

 subterranean houses are called weems from the Gaelic word 

 waniba, a cave. They seem to have been of two types. 

 The shallower and narrower ones appear to have been used 

 as a primitive vault, which furnished a depository for the 

 ashes of sacrifice ; the larger and roomier ones were store- 

 houses, built underground, called earth-houses, which served 

 to hide a few people and their goods in time of war. Both 

 kinds have been found in the district. The sepulchral type 

 was discovered in Borthwick parish. It was found in a field 

 on Middleton farm, which lies between Borthwick Castle and 

 the Middleton Mansion-house policies. One day a plough 

 came in contact with its rough masonry at a depth of only 

 a foot from the surface. On examination this was found to 

 be the roof of an underground stone - built chamber. Dr 

 Daniel Wilson, quoting from Pennant's ' Tour in Scotland ' 

 (1771-1775), describes it as having been pear-shaped, fifteen 

 feet in length by two and a half in breadth. The masonry 

 was of the rudest description, and nearly the whole space 



